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Landscape planning is a branch of landscape architecture. According to Erv
Zube (1931–2002) landscape planning is defined as an activity concerned with
reconciling competing land uses while protecting natural processes and
significant cultural and natural resources.
Urban park systems and greenways of the type planned by Frederick Law
Olmsted are key examples of urban landscape planning. Landscape designers
tend to work for clients who wish to commission construction work. Landscape
planners can look beyond the 'closely drawn technical limits' and 'narrowly
drawn territorial boundaries' which constrain design projects.
Landscape planners tend to work on projects which:
are of broad geographical scope
concern many land uses or many clients
are implemented over a long period of time
In rural areas, the damage caused by unplanned mineral extraction was one of
the early reasons for a public demand for landscape planning.
In Asia
In India, the history of landscape planning can be traced to the Vedas and to the
Vaastu Shastras. These ancient texts set forth principles for planning
settlements, temples and other structures in relation to the natural landscape.
Relationships with mountains (the home of the gods) and with rivers (regarded
as goddesses) were of particular importance. A square form represented the
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earth and a circular form represented heaven. A mandala explained the
relationship between heaven and earth. Square plans, for both secular and
religious structures, were set out with their sides facing north, south, east and
west. The earliest surviving stone temple set out in this way is Sanchi.
In China, landscape planning originated with Feng Shui, which is translated into
English as 'wind and water' and is used to describe a set of general principles for
the planning of development in relation to the natural landscape. The aim was to
find the most auspicious environment possible, one sited in harmony with
natural phenomena and the physical and psychological needs of man' (Chinese
Architecture by Nancy Steinhardt et al. Yale University Press and New World
Press 2002, p. 255)
In Europe
In Europe, the history of landscape planning can be traced to the work of
Vitruvius. In discussing the planning of towns, he wrote about site planning
with regard to microclimate, about the planning of streets and about the role of
metaphor in design. Vitruvius' theories were revived during the renaissance and
came to influence the planning of towns throughout Europe and the Americas.
Alberti wrote on the need for town squares for markets. In North Europe this
developed into the idea that residential squares should planned around green
spaces. The first space of this type was the Place des Vosges. Residential
squares were also made in Britain and their planning developed into the idea of
incorporating public open space (public parks within towns). Frederick Law
Olmsted gave momentum to this idea with his proposal for a park systems in
Boston - the famous Emerald Necklace. Patrick Abercrombie took up this idea
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and incorporated it in his great 1943-4 Open Space Plan for the County of
London.
In the US
Landscape architects in the United States of America are active in landscape
planning. But, unlike Canada and Europe, the US does not have a national land
use planning system. Frederick Law Olmsted and Ian McHarg are the most
famous American landscape planners. McHarg's work on overlay landscape
planning contributed to the development of GIS and to the foundation of ESRI
by Jack Dangermond.
Legislation
The principles of landscape planning are now incorporated in various types of
legislation and policy documents. In America, the National Environmental
Policy Act was influenced by the work of Ian McHarg on Environmental impact
assessment. In Germany, the Federal Nature Conservation Act requires the
preparation of landscape plans. For the Europe Union as a whole, the European
Landscape Convention has wide-ranging implications for the design and
planning of relationships between development and the landscape. In Asia,
major development projects are taking place and illustrating the need for good
landscape planning. The Three Gorges Dam, for example, will have extensive
impacts on the landscape. They have been planned to a degree but future
monitoring of the project is likely to show that better landscape planning and
design would have been possible.
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Theory
Landscape planners are concerned with the 'health' of the landscape, just as
doctors are concerned with bodily health. This analogy can be taken further.
Medical doctors advise both on the health of individuals and on matters of
public health. When individuals take actions injurious to their own health this is
regarded as a private matter. But if they take actions injurious to public health,
these actions are properly regulated by law. The collective landscape is a public
good which should be protected and enhanced by legislation and public
administration. If, for example, mineral extraction has a damaging impact on the
landscape, this is a proper field for intervention. Negative impacts on the
landscape could include visual impacts, ecological impacts, hydrological
impacts and recreational impacts. As well as protecting existing public goods,
societies are responsible for the creation of new public goods. This can be done
by positive landscape planning. There are, for example, many former mineral
workings (e.g. the Norfolk Broads) which have become important public goods.
Medical doctors are trained in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry etc. before
becoming practitioners. Landscape doctors are trained in geomorphology,
hydrology, ecology etc. before becoming practitioners in design and planning.
When qualified, they can specialize in areas of landscape planning:
Landscape of roads - The landscape treatment of roads is concerned with the
planning and design of roads and highways with regard to their environmental
impact on the surrounding landscape. Sylvia Crowe wrote a pioneering book on
the design of roads with regard to their impact on the landscape and Ian McHarg
proposed an overlay system for highway route selection in his book on Design
with nature.
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Landscape of forestry - The landscape treatment of forests is concerned with the
non-timber objectives which can be obtained by conserving and developing
forests: scenic quality, water quality, recreation, wildlife conservation and other
environmental goods. This work is done by foresters who also hold
qualifications in landscape architecture and also by landscape architects and
landscape planners with a specialization in forestry. The United States Forest
Service, the UK Forestry Commission and other forest agencies are also
employers of landscape architects. They have mitigated criticism of plantation
forestry, monoculture, and clear-cutting.
Landscape of energy - The generation of energy has become a major land use
with consequent environmental impacts upon the landscape. Landscape
planning for energy is concerned with designs and plans to mitigate the impact
of power generation upon the landscape. This includes landscape planning for:
power stations
power transmission lines
hydroelectric power
tidal power
solar power
wind power
Landscape of urbanization - Most of the world's cities are expanding into
agricultural land. Landscape planning for urbanization is concerned with the
conservation and development of landscape resources as urbanization takes
place. Ian McHarg's approach to this problem was to prepare a series of overlay
maps showing the different types of quality in the land around settlements:
agricultural value, property value, hydrological value, scenic value, recreational
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value, ecological value etc. The maps of value were then overlaid to produce a
composite map which looked like an X-Ray photograph - with the dark areas
having the most value and the white areas the least value. His belief was that the
'white land' should be urbanized in preference to the 'black land'. The overlay
mapping system which McHarg proposed is now carried out using a Geographic
Information System. Other landscape planners have proposed greenways and
green belts as a means of urban growth management.